ORONO, Maine -- For the second-straight year, University of Maine women's basketball junior forward Liz Wood(Catlett, Va.) has been named the America East Women's Basketball Student-Athlete of the Year, as announced by the league office on Wednesday, April 15.
Wood, who has accumulated a 3.93 GPA, is a biology major with a premedical studies concentration in the honors college and a chemistry minor, focusing towards a career in the medical field. Earlier this year, Wood was awarded the prestigious "M" Club Dean Smith award, presented annually to the top male and female student-athlete with outstanding academic and athletic achievement along with citizenship and community service. Maine's junior forward is a two-time finalist for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-State Good Works team for her significant impact in the community, in the classroom and on the court. A two-time America East All-Academic team selection, Wood has also volunteered numerous hours giving back to the UMaine community. Through her work with SAAC, Wood has organized several community service events including visits to local elementary schools, "Dodge for a Cause", Toys-For-Tots events, hospital visits, food drives, free clinics and offered her time to officiate for Special Olympics basketball games. This past summer, she participated in an internship at Colorado State University working in a laboratory on a NASA funded project in cancer biology.
Wood was equally impressive on the court where she earned America East First Team honors and was named the league's Co-Defensive Player of the Year as well as receiving a nod to the America East All-Defensive team. Wood became just the 18th player in Maine women's basketball history to record her 1,000th point, doing so in just her third season.
A committee of athletic administrators and NCAA Faculty Athletics Representatives chose an honoree in each of the six winter championship sports. Each America East Scholar-Athlete was a starter or prominent reserve and carries a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.30. Each honoree will automatically be eligible for the America East Female or Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award to be announced this summer.
The University of Maine is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2015. In conjunction with this, the athletic department will celebrate 150 student-athletes achievements over the next year.
-U-M-
